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Patent offices coming to Silicon Valley, 3 cities

Monday - 7/2/2012, 1:58pm EDT

NEW YORK (AP) - The federal government is opening regional patent offices in
Silicon Valley and three other areas as part of efforts to reduce a backlog and hire
experts not willing to move to the Washington area.

The U.S. Commerce Department previously announced plans to open a patent office
July 13 in Detroit. The other two are in the Dallas and Denver areas. No additional
dates were given.

The selection of Silicon Valley underscores the growing importance of patents in
high-tech innovation. Phone makers, for instance, have been suing each other over
the originality of designs and concepts. Yahoo and Facebook also have lawsuits over
social-networking technology.

Having experts review patents in the field could speed approvals. It's not clear
whether they would help reduce broad patents that have triggered legal disputes.

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